Residents of Trigg County may soon spot a new deputy on patrol, as the Fiscal Court voted to approve a new animal control officer. Unlike other plans the county pursued in the past, the new officer will be a fully certified, trained and equipped deputy sheriff. The department added one deputy last year.

“We as a Fiscal Court agreed to offer the City of Cadiz a contract to split the duties and responsibilities of the animal control officer with them,” said Judge/Executive Stan Humphries. “The agreement was offered to the City Council who voted not to enter the agreement. Since they did not accept it, we are required to move on this by statute. As a united county, we will treat every individual the same.”

Humphries said that he had spoken to Sheriff Randy Clark who said that other counties had included the animal control officer beneath the umbrella of the Sheriff’s Office. “This gives us an additional presence in the county and I feel this is better than an animal control officer by himself as we will now have a badge-carrying deputy on patrol.”

“The great benefit is that we will have another fully-trained deputy if needed,” said Clark. “If there is no animal control business, he can answer calls. A deputy can also follow up on animal complaints through the court process. He can make arrests and conduct investigations on animal cases from start to finish. Even if he is working on animal control business, if we have a major event, he could work as a backup or even first response officer.”

Read more on the new deputy's position and other Fiscal Court action in this week's Cadiz Record.